Forever
by aelitacodelyoko
Summary: Odd and Aelita visit his aunt in California. Lots of cute randomness.


**Here's a short new fic for all you guys who have been waiting  
>I hope you like it.<br>It's short and random, but i enjoyed it. **

**Forever**

**Oneshot**

Sweat ran down her chest. Her pale green top clung to her in the summer heat accentuating her chest. Her hair had grown out a little and was now just brushing her shoulders. She lifted it off of her neck with a sigh, trying to find some way to get cool in the uncomfortably humid day. It was an average June day, although it was unreasonably hot. The sky was plain. Not a cloud was visible to give any hope of a cool spot to rest. She walked over to a willow tree and lifted the branches to step underneath its shade. She sighed peacefully as the temperature dropped a good five or ten degrees. She walked over to the trunk and took a seat. She leaded up against it and pulled out her book from her purse. It was finally summer. She was free to do whatever she pleased. She closed her eyes contently. She no longer had to worry about the burden of schoolwork. She could get away from it all.

Yumi and Ulrich decided to spend the first part of the summer with Yumi's family at the coast. They decided to make the most of the summer. They had been going out for almost three years. Yumi's parents finally got used to him. They weren't as awkward around him as they had been at the start. Besides, he was almost 17 and she was already. They wouldn't be kids much longer. Even Hiroki and Milly were no longer as little as they had once been. Aelita smiled at the thought. She hadn't expected them to stay together for so long. They had had their fights and breakups, but they had gotten back together and made up every time. They never lasted mad for more than a week. Hiroki was even heading into the 8th grade. It was hard to believe that he was in the same position that Ulrich had been in only a little over two years ago. It was also hard to believe that Yumi would be graduating in the upcoming year. This was one of the last summers they would have with all of them together.

Aelita sighed again. Everything that had happened recently seemed so unbelievable. Jeremie had gotten transferred to an early science program at a special college in Paris. They hadn't been very close these last few years anyway. Johnny had moved out of the country when his father changed jobs. It almost killed Tamiya who had gotten pretty close to him, although Hiroki didn't seem to be shaken nearly as much. Since Milly and Hiroki had started going out, their friendship never really was the same. Nothing else had really changed too much. Her life has been pretty good.

Aelita smiled and opened her eyes. "Oh gosh! You scared me!" she gasped when she found Odd seated across from her.

"You're too cute," he said with a cheery smile.

"I hadn't expected you to be up so early. I would've told you where I was," she stated and closed her book at set it to the side.

"It's already 11."

"Exactly, it's only 11." She smiled at him and patted the patch of grass next to her.

He turned and moved to sit next to her. "Anyways. I knew where you'd be. You've only come here every moment of free time you've had."

"You're aunt's house is just so lovely, Odd. I can't understand why you don't like coming here. She's got all of these beautiful trees and such a good view of the lake." She looked out across the field and down the hill to the lake.

"Well, I'm glad you like it here. I knew you would. You've always seemed to like nature more than I have. I hope you didn't mind how long the plane trip was to get here. That's sort of the reason I hate coming out here. It takes like 7 million hours!"

"It wasn't that bad," she said with a laugh, recalling the incident. "It was only a little frightening at one point, but, as I recall, you had a pretty good time."

He laughed and nodded. He reached down and pulled up her hand. "So, you like California?"

"I could do without all of this heat, but yes, I do like it here. Sorry for my stickiness," she started and pulled at her hair. "I'm probably extremely unattractive."

"Nonsense!" he scoffed. "You look great!"

She laughed. "Good joke." She sighed pleasantly as she thought back on the plane ride over. She chuckled slightly to herself when she thought of the way Odd had lost his bag and some kid had dragged it into the women's restroom.

"You know, that wasn't my fault," Odd stated as if reading her thoughts. "I know why you're chuckling."  
>"I can't help it. It's too funny." She smiled and turned towards him. He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around her waist. It made her uncomfortably hot, but it probably did the same to him. She leaned in closer to him. He pulled her into him. They sat there for thirty minutes or so without saying anything. They didn't need to. They were happy with just each other's company. They stared off into the distance, pressed against one another. They had been at Odd's aunt's house for only two days, but were planning on staying for another week and a half. Tomorrow they were planning to go out on the lake with Odd's family.<p>

"You're the greatest, Aelita," Odd said after a while. "I'm so glad you agreed to come with me. I don't think I could've standed a whole two weeks of summer without you."

"I'm glad you invited me. You know I don't really have anywhere to go during the summers." She smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.

Odd rolled his eyes. She hadn't gotten used to the big time change yet. She often pretended she did, but she really hadn't. He let her sleep. He watched a couple birds fly over the trees. He counted the number of boats he could see on the lake. After a while, he began to get tired himself. He rested his head against hers, just like he had on the plane ride.

-Flashback-

Aelita let out a large yawn as she looked out the window. "You know, Aelita, if you're getting tired, you can take a nap." She turned and smiled at him but shook her head. "Don't be stubborn. I can tell that you're tired."

"So," she said through a yawn. "I can't sleep on planes. It's too hard. Not enough neck support." She turned back to look out the window. The sun was setting, seeming slower than it should have because they were heading west. Odd pushed up the armrest in between them and took off his seat belt. Then, he scooted closer to her and pulled her hand into his lap. She turned back toward him and smiled as she squeezed his hand.

"You know," he began, "I'll be your neck support if you'd like."

Aelita laughed softly. "You're too cute. But, yes. I would like that so much. I'm so tired." She yawned again as she took her seat belt off and leaned her head against Odd's shoulder. She continued to rest her hand in his lap, and he began to play with her fingers. She sighed pleasantly, and he rested his head on top of hers. Within ten minutes, Aelita fell asleep. Odd continued to play with her hand, tracing the creases with his fingers. He continued for over thirty minutes, drawing flowers or swirls or making smiley faces. The flight attendant came around with blankets and smiled brightly as she handed them one. Odd took it and draped it over top of them.

"You guys are about the cutest couple I've ever seen," she said, pausing for a moment. "I love how you both have such colorful hair."

"It's natural," Odd said with a smile.

She smiled and laughed. "Pink? You've got a great sense of humor. Feel free to buzz me if you need anything else." She turned back to her duties and continued passing around blankets.

Odd yawned once and leaned his head on top of Aelita's. She didn't wake. He continued to play with her hands for a couple minutes. After about five minutes the pilot came on over the intercom.

"At this time we're going to be experiencing some turbulence. If everyone could remain seated with their seatbacks and tray tables in the upright and locked position and their seatbelts fastened, we would appreciate it. We'll let you know when it's safe to move about the cabin." The pilot clicked out, and people began returning to their seats and moving their seats back up.

After only a short time, the plane went through a set of small bumps. Odd lifted his head from Aelita. He didn't want them to knock heads. Unluckily, Aelita woke up because of the next set and they collided. "Ouch," she said as she yawned and blinked. "What a rude awakening. What's going on?" The plane was shaking a little more now.

"Don't worry, princess. It's just a little turbulence. Nothing to be afraid of." He smiled at her.

She looked out the window for a couple seconds but couldn't see much. She gave a petite squeal when the plane hit a larger gust of air. "It's just turbulence, Aelita," she murmured to herself.

Odd looked down at his hand where she was practically squeezing all the life out of it. "Aelita, it's really gonna be just fine. I've ridden planes my whole life."

She turned and looked at him. She nodded, but didn't say anything. Then the plane hit another rough patch. Aelita's eyes widened and she grabbed onto Odd's arm for support. "This is stupid. I'm not afraid of robots or deadly aliens or ghosts or insects or zombies or monsters or heights, but the idea of falling scares me to death." She shut her eyes as they went through another short set of bumps.

"Aelita, that's perfectly fine. Everyone's afraid of something," Odd stated reassuringly. Aelita squealed again. He smiled and pulled her in closer to him. "Shhh. Don't worry. Everything will be fine. The stewardesses look calm. No one's freaking out. We're going to be fine."

Aelita tried to calm down. Odd gave her a reassuring squeeze every once and a while. She looked into his eyes. He smiled at her, and eventually she relaxed.

-End Flashback-

Odd sighed pleasantly and opened his eyes. He lifted his head and turned to look at Aelita. She was still sleeping on his shoulder. She looked great to him, despite what she had said about being sticky and unattractive. After only a few more minutes, Aelita yawned and stretched.

"Hey, princess. Did you have a good nap?"

"Oh, sorry, Odd," she yawned. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

Odd shook his head and stood up. "Don't worry about it. Come with me." It wasn't a question, but Aelita nodded anyway. Odd held out his hand and she took it.

As soon as she was on her feet, he began to run. He ran straight through the branches of the willow and kept on going. His aunt was in the front yard, weeding. "I'll be home by dinner!" he called to her. She hardly looked up to see Odd run across the street. He wound his way through the neighborhood. Aelita tried to watch the road signs to see if she could remember the way back, but Odd continued to cut through backyards and meadows that she completely gave up hope. Besides, Odd would be taking her home eventually.

"Odd! Where are we going!" Aelita asked as they turned yet another corner. He ran down another block before he stopped. He turned around and smiled at her.

"I used to have a good friend that I used to hang out with all the time when I used to live here when I was little. Her name was Melody. We both grew up here. She lived a couple streets over from here. We both used to go to the same preschool and elementary school. She and I would hang out every day. One day when we were 6 we stumbled across this place." He paused to smile at Aelita.

"Odd, where are you going with this? We're just at the edge of some forest or something. I'm sure tons of people have been here. We're standing in front of someone's house." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just listen," he stated with a smile. "We came here one day and decided to cross that fence. We walked a ways into the forest until we found a fallen tree that was impossible to get around. But, it had to have been ages old and time as well as the fall made it somewhat hollow at one part. You could hardly see the hole at all. But, we crawled in and went down the tree and sure enough there was another opening on the other end. When we crawled out we were in this amazing place. We came back every day that we could until I moved to France. I want to take you there now." He smiled at her and took her hand. "Come with me." She nodded.

Aelita followed Odd through the forest. Although, it wasn't much of a forest. Just a large group of trees. They both continued walking until Odd stopped her in front of a massive tree. Aelita couldn't even see over it because of its sheer size. Odd squeezed her hand and let her to the right side where there was an opening. He dropped her hand and crawled inside. She hesitated only a second before crawling in after him. She continued through the tree until she saw Odd exit to the right side. She turned but Odd was blocking her exit as well as her view.

"Close your eyes," he whispered. She smiled and shut them. He reached out and grabbed her waist and pulled her from the opening in the tree. He set her down and grabbed her hand. Together they walked forward roughly ten feet. "Alright," he whispered with a huge smile on his face, "you can open your eyes."

Aelita opened her eyes slowly and was immediately overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. She was surrounded by pink dogwoods. In front of her, in the middle of the trees was a small opening without any. It was a small patch of grass. Upon it were a couple of wild flowers. Aelita couldn't help but smile. She turned and wrapped her arms around Odd. "This is just amazing," she whispered into his ear. "Thank you for bringing me here. I I can't even tell you how much it means to me."

Odd smiled and held her tighter. "I knew you'd like it. The trees here match your hair." She chuckled. Odd pulled out of the hug but still held her close. He looked into her eyes. "The only thing better than the trees here is you." Aelita smiled again and rolled her eyes slightly. "Don't you roll your eyes at me," he scolded her jokingly. Then he moved closer to her and pressed his lips gently to hers. She melted into him. She let her hands slide along his lower back as his caressed the back of her neck and the top of her back.

Odd tilted his head down to kiss her neck. She tilted her head back and relaxed. Then she ran her hands through his hair. "Odd, I love you."

"I love you too, Aelita." He pulled away from her and she rested her head on his chest. He held her close like that until her breathing relaxed.

"Thank you for bringing me here. I never want to go back." Aelita sighed comfortably as she rested her hands on his shoulders.

Odd smiled and caressed the back of her head and neck. "Don't worry, princess. We have forever."

**Please tell me what you think. :D  
>I'll love you! <strong>


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